Bundle-tier machine



0a. 21, 1941. A. H. SAXTON 2,259,707

BUNDLE TEER MACHINE Filed, Dec. 26, 1939 3 Sheets-Sheet l Oct. 21, 1941, A. .4. SAXTON 2,259,707

BUNDLE TIER MACHINE Filed Dec. 26, 1939 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Oct. 21, 1941, A. H. SAXTON BUNDLE TIER MACHINE s Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed bee. 26, 19:59

Patented Oct. 21, 1941 umTilD stares ere-rear orelce a nor BUNDLE-TIER MACHINE bert H- Saxto lsl si eid Mic as i ho to National Bund v' Contains .Bfi fs elii M h-i a separation of l ie iseii. Applic tion Dec mber 26, 1939., Serial No, 310,864 Claims ,lCi- 1.01:3!)

My invention has for its object to provide an efiicient, light-weight, readily portable, manually, operable bundle-tier machine.

The invention provides a bundle-supporting plate and a twineecutter bar and knotter proximate to the plane of the surface of the plate, the plate having means for elevating the bundle to Pei-Knit. movement of the needle arm beneath the bundle.

The invention, also, consists in a simple, eifii nt means tor causin timed p ations of the needz eeone atin mechanism and the knott r and oiittere a mecha ism wit r spe t to ac ot r.

T e invention co sists in oth r f atu s a d adva ages, which w l, app a from th following d s ription and upon eii rh iia i n of e draw hiss iormih a a t h reof- Th i vention m b con ained n structu es ent orms a d. to i ustrate a racti a o the nvent on I have el ct d a handle ma hine as exam e o s u ur soii a .e he ihveh en and sha l des r be h iiieeh ie s leet d e eihai er i ing unde s oo that variations may be made in the structure W thou d Pel ii -ie om th shi it. o t e inv th as resented th claims h re nafter a heeded- F i illus rat s a pe specti e iew of the bun.- t i t ei ma hin E e- 2 illust at s a perspective vie o uppe a t o the i r m c n ow.- iiis ertain o he pa ts loc ted in po itions d r.- ent iron; that in wh h he a e s ow located in Fi l.- Fi i i a si e iew o th ir d ees o ee'l as Pli: .Eiai is a. v ew oi a ection of the ll strates a end v w of he th h eev Pl te remov d,

i Hi lhiiie .liPWn the fi ures is provided wi h a lease Pla e 4 havin p eferab y, a pair of eel iiii runs '2 l cat d at the rear corne s and on the under sid of h a p ate for elastioale h. sup ortin and p eumat al se uring the ma.- ehi ie t a sup ort n art in th manner We l wn in the aii B erabi he base p ate I it re iiieel With a r nt a e a o en a ice i toward ed at a seasonin part on which 7 the t s ma he pla ed, such as a table ehsi A ease whi h enc os nd/or su iio i s th ha t o he et ati ie mechani ms is see ed to the as ti -ate i:

' h eet iat e i ee ani ms o th tie machine a e manuall ope at d by the lever I that is. pivotally supported in the side all of a part of the e o n ease e le er 7 is Pro id d with a u able r veted h ndl 8 tha Pieie ts ri htward e -ees eiii et oi 9i ever 1.-

short arm ll] of the lever I is located within the enclosing case 5 and protrudes in a direction sub.- stantially parallel to the longer arm of the lever. The short arm [-0 is formed broader than the longer arm, as viewed in Fig. 5, to form an end edge ll having a considerable length. A chain l 2, of the type'coinmonly used in connection with sprocket wheels, is pivotally connected, at one end, to an ear l3 that protrudesfrom the lower righthand corner of the'shorter'arm ll] of the lover I, and theother end is connected to an ear l4 that protrudes from a cylindrical block I5.

The block l5 has a flange [8; from which the ear l4 extends. The chain l 2 is iormedof a plurality of pairs of flat links having spacer hush- I lugs. 20, which are connected together by. the usual pins 2|. If desired; shouldered pins may be used for spacing the links. The end edge H of the lever -1 and the flange 18 of the block [5 are located in substantially the-same plane, and the spacer bushings 2|! engage the end edge I I of the lever I and the edge of thefiange 8; The inner of the pairs of links 22 are. spaced from each other slightly greater than the thickness of the edge ll of the lever and the flange H5. The links extend along the lateral peripheral surface portions of the flange l8 and-the end of the lev r to prevent the chain lzirom slipping fr m he flange 18, and operate to progressively guide the chain to. and from the edge'of the flange as the lever 1 is actuated.

The block I5 is rotatably' supported on the shaft 24. A spiral spring 25 surrounds the block l5 and is connected at one end to the case 5 and at the other end to. the block 15, biased to e stically ress the block outward and ota e he block on the shaft when tensioned. The shaft 2.4 extends through the blocklfi and an arm 2! is connected to the end of the shaft for rotatin the shaft. The cylindrical block L has a sho play along the shaft and the Qllter end of the bloc L is provided with a cam suriao 2.9 and a shoulder til'ioeated in thepla e of the axis of the shaft 2.4, while the armis. provided wit a recess 31. having, on one sid the eo a p ane surface extending radially .from the axis of the shaft 2. and in posi ion ohe n a ed by th shoulder so, Wh n ther or the blo k 5 i rotat d by the-ope ation oi the chain I2, h shoulder 311' en a s he tadial veext siih surface 32 of the arm 7 and causes'the arm .2 t rotate, wh ch, in turaeauses a eg e spohdin eation of the sha t 24! towhi h he arm is con.- neeted; I

The sha t 24 is ee iiie te to a sect r sear. ti,

close fitting relation,

and, at a certain point in the rotation of the shaft 24, the sector gear operates a knotter bill 35. Also, the sector gear has a suitable camway that, upon completion of the tying of the knot, operates a cutter bar 31. The sector gear 34, the knotter bill 35, and the cutter bar 31 are of the type well known in the art and are shown and described in the patent to Bachmayer, No. 1,962,703, granted June 12, 1934, for Bundle tier machines. I

In the operation of the block l5, by the lever 1,

and the operation of the arm 21, by engagement of the cam surface 29 with the arm 21, the arm 21 operates a needle arm 38. The needle arm has, preferably, a part 40 extending at right angles to the axis of rotation of the needle arm 38, a part 4| extending at right angles to the part 40, a needle 42 located in a plane that is disposed substantially at right angles to the axis of rotation of the needle arm for completing the wrapping of the twine 43, and a twine-tucker plate 44 located beneath the needle 42 for locating the twine in a position such that it may be engaged by the knotter bill 35 and the cutter bar 31. The needle, the tucker plate, the knotter bill, and the cutter bar operate in the same manner as is described in the said Bachmayer patent.

The needle arm 38 is rotatably supported on a shaft 45 that is suitably supported in bearings formed in or located in the case 5. A disc 41 is connected to the shaft 45. If desired, the shaft 45 may be formed integral with the needle arm 38. A chain 48, formed of pairs of flat links that are spaced by suitable shouldered pins or bushings 50, is connected at its ends to the disc 41, by means of a suitable pin The disc 41 has a thickness slightly less than the distance between the inner of the pairs of links 52, and, consequently, the links 52, at the ends of the chain, dispose themselves on opposite sides of edge portions of the disc 41, in comparatively whereby the chain 48 is, when held reasonably taut, retained in position with reference to the disc 41, and certain of the bushings 58 sequentially engage and ride on the edge of the disc 41 as the disc 41 is rotated in one direction or the other.

The chain 48 is retained in its belt-wise relation with respect to the disc 41, by means of the flanged roller or idler 54. The idler 54 is supported by means of the suitable ball bearings located on a fixed pin 55 that is secured to a part of the case-5 and is provided with afiange part 51, having a thickness slightly less than that of the distance between the inner pairs of links 52. The idler 54 is suitably spaced from the disc 41 to engage the bushings 50 of the chain 48 and the flange 51 of the idler 54 is substantially located in the plane of the disc 41 and, consequently, the idler 54 operates to maintain the chain 48 in position on the disc and the idler.

Inasmuch as the needle 42, of necessity, operates synchronously with respect to the operation of the knotter bill 35, the disc 41 and the needle are caused to operate at a certain point in the operation of the shaft 24. The shoulder 38 of the cylindrical block l5 causes engagement with the surface 32 of the recess 3| formed in the arm 21 to produce the rotation of the needle arm 33. The arm 21 is connected, by an adjustable link 58, with the chain 48 at a point near the disc 41 by means of a gooseneck end 60 that is disposed between a pair of the links and secured in position by a suitable pin 6|. The other end of the link 58 is connected to the arm 21 by means of the pin 62. When, therefore, the lever 1 is operated, the cylindrical block I5 is rotated and the shoulder 38, eventually, engages the radial surface 32 of the arm 21 and causes rotation of the arm 21, which operates the chain 48 and rotates the disc 41 and the needle arm 38 to cause the needle 42 to move to the knotter bill 35 and cause the tucker plate 44 to move along the under side surface of the package to position the twine in proper position for engagement by the knotter bill and the cutter bar. When the lever 1 is moved sufficiently to complete the movement of the knotter bill to the knotter mechanism, the arm 21 has then been rotated to a point such that the pivot pin 62 of the link 58 is moved beneath the center of the axis of the shaft 24 and the lever may be released. The block I5 is then reversely rotated, relative to the shaft 24, by the spring 25, which causes the cam 29 to shift the block |5 along the shaft 24 by the engagement of the cam with the rear side of the arm 21 and the disengagement of the surfaces 30 and 32. The link 58 and the needle arm are then free to return. The arm 21, being connected to the end of the shaft 24 and to the link 58, the shaft 24 and. its connected arm 21 complete the revolution which completes the movement of the knotter and cutter mechanism.

When the pin 62, of the arm 21, passes beneath the axis of the shaft 24, the disc 41 is caused to return, in its oscillatory movement, by means of a spiral spring 64, which is connected at one end to the disc 41 and at the other end to a part of the case 5. The spring 64 is resiliently distorted or tensioned during the first part of the rotation of the arm 21 and when the arm 21 is released by rotation of the pin 62 past the line of the axis of the shaft 24, the spring operates to return the disc 41 to its normal position and complete the rotation of the arm 21, as shown in Fig. 5. Thus, the shaft 24 and the sector gear 34 are caused to make a complete rotation, while lilig needle'arm 38 is caused to oscillate about When the needle arm 38 rotates, it carries the needle 42 to a point below the bottom side of a package-supporting plate 65. The cutter bar 31 is located approximately at the plane of the top surface of the body part of the plate 65 or below the said plane about the thickness of the tucker plate 44. The plate 65 is provided with a front apron 61 and is supported on the case 5 by means of the bolt 68 that extends through the apron 61 and the pin 10 that extends through the lugs 1| that protrude downward from the rear end of the plate 65. The plate is provided with a slot 12 that upwardly and rearwardly extends from near the lower edge of the apron 61 to near the rear third of the plate, where it is materially enlarged, as at 14. The lengths of the parts 40 and 4| of the needle arm 38 are such as to cause the needle to enter the lower end of the slot, as formed in the apron 61, while the part 4| moves along a curved surface 15 formed on one side of the slot 12 of the plate, and the tucker plate 44 passes over the surface of the cutter bar 31 to move the twine 43 into proper relation with respect to the cutter bar to locate the twine 43 in position to be caught by the knotter bill and to be cut by the cutter bar by a lateral cutting movement of the bar when the knot has been formed.

The curved surface 15 of the plate forms a curved edge along the slot in conformation to the circular movement produced by the part 4| of the needle arm when the shaft 45 of the needle arm 38 is rotated. The edge 11 of the slot 12 opposite the curved edge extending along the surface 15, is sharply inclined downward from the top of the apron and rearward to the plane surface of the top of the body part of the packagesupporting plate 65. The highest point 16 of the edge 17 is located markedly above the curved surface 75. The surface of the plate, in the r gion of the edge 11, slopes rearward and downward to the enlarged part 14 of the slot 12 and leftward and downward from the edge 11, as viewed in Fig. 1. Thus, when the package 13 is placed over the front edge of the top of the plate and moved rearward, the twine 43 is engaged by the rear side of the package and is moved with the package to any point that may be desired on the surface of the plate. The package 13 may be moved to a point such that its forward surface is located above the knotter bill, or it may be placed merely upon the sloping edge 11 but so that its rear edge is above or to the rear of the knotter bill. A part of the package should, preferably, be located in proximity to the cutter bar 37. Upon the operation of the lever I, the needle 42 and the tucker plate 44 will pass beneath the package, and the part 4| of the needle arm 38 will move beneath the package, without interfering materially with the package, by reason of the difierence in the elevation of the inclined edge 11 and the curved surface 15 and cause the needle and the tucker plate to advance to a position to produce the knot.

The twine 43 is fed from a suitable spindle that may be located, preferably, at the rear of the machine and through a suitable tension member, such as that indicated at 78, and throught an eye 79 located on a bracket mounted on the case and through an eye 30 of an elastic takeup 6!. Thence, the twine is threaded through the eyes 82 located on the outer side edge and the end of the needle. The bracket extends upward to locate the eye 19 near the upper end of the part 40 of the needle arm. The elastic takeup is formed of a relatively long, light, elastic spring wire secured to the case 5 and normally extending at right angles to the part 40 of the needle arm. As the needle swings down to the knotter, it draws the twine and the eye 80 to a point opposite the eye 19 and prevents the formation of a loose dangling loop of the twine, upon the return of the needle arm. This keeps the twine reasonably taut and prevents entanglement of the twine by repeated operations of the lever I, whether a package is positioned for wrapping on the plate or not.

I claim:

1. In a bundle-tier machine, a needle, a knotter, and a cutter; a rotatable member for oscillating the needle and operating the cutter and the knotter; an oscillatable member for engaging and actuating the rotatable member to rotate the member, the oscillatable member having means for disengaging the rotatable member from the oscillatable member upon completion of a part of its rotation; and a spring tensioned by the rotation of the oscillatable member for completing the rotation of the rotatable member.

2. In a bundle-tier machine, a knotter, a cutter, and a needle arm; an oscillatable member for operating the needle arm; a chain connected to the oscillatable member; a rotatable member for operating the knotter and the cutter and connected to the chain for reciprocably moving a part of the chain for oscillating the arm; a second oscillatable member for releasably engaging and actuating the rotatable member to rotate the member a part of its rotation; a spring tensioned by rotation of the rotatable member during the operation of the said part of rotation of the rotatable member and operative to complete the rotation of the member to oscillate the needle arm and operate the knotter and the cutter; and a second spring tensioned by the rotation of the second oscillatable member in one direction to disengage the rotatable member and for returning the oscillatable member to a position of engagement with the rotatable member.

3. In a bundle-tier machine, a knotter, a cutter, and a needle; a rotatable member for operating the knotter and the cutter; an oscillatable needle arm for operating the needle; a cylindrical block oscillatably supported on the rotatable member; a manually-operable lever; a chain interconnecting the short arm of the lever with the block for oscillating the block, the block having a shoulder for engaging and angularly moving the rotatable member; a disc; a chain connected to the disc at its ends; and an adjustable link for connecting the last-named chain to the rotatable member for reciprocably moving chain in one direction; and a spring for moving the chain in the opposite direction to oscillate the disc connected to the needle arm and complete the rotation of the rotatable member.

4. In a bundle-tier machine, a knotter, a cutter, and a needle; a rotatable member for operating the knotter and the cutter; an oscillatable needle arm for operating the needle; an angularly oscillatable block; means for oscillating the block, the block having a means for engaging and disengaging the rotatable member; a reciprocable means for connecting the needle arm to the rotatable member and a spring tensioned by the reciprocable means for oscillating the needle arm and completing the rotation of the rotatable member.

ALBERT H. SAXTON. 

